Hate
by Elusion
Summary: Inuyasha and gang are on their way to the final battle.... But Naraku has a surprise in for them... Will they survive? And why is Sesshoumaru with them? Dark undertones. Finished!
1. The Beginning of the End

Hate

An Inuyasha fanfic by Elusion

Disclaimer:  
Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, and I am just 'borrowing' it for a while, to write my mad excuse for a fanfic. No, I don't own any of the characters but I am proud to say that the fanfic idea was all mine.

Author's notes:  
I have only been watching anime for a year or so now, and Inuyasha for only the past few months, and this is my first POSTED work ( I have half a dozen just sitting in my head or on  
paper that just won't finish themselves...) so please be kind. Comments and helpful criticisms send to me, but all flames go to Takahashi-sama (with all due respect) for making her characters' lives so temptingly easy to destroy. Alright, I'll shut up for now.

Chapter one:

_We're almost there,_ Kagome thought, her heart pounding so hard she thought it would leap out of her chest. They were finally on their way to the last showdown against Naraku, for the Shikon no Tama. She dug her hands into Kirara's fur, trying desperately to warm them, a useless attempt the take the chill out of herself. She noticed the silence all around them,  
it hung thick in the air. Under the shadows of Naraku, even the birds didn't chirp in the forests. Kagome looked at her friends riding on Kirara's back with her. Sango was always so serious, and had such sad eyes. Kagome would like to have known Sango before tragedy had struck the exterminators life; to see her laugh carelessly, and just be happy. Miroku sat in front of Sango and had a determined set to his mouth. He was about to face his life-long enemy, and he was going to give his all. Shippo sat practically in Kagome's lap, hugging her tightly. She could feel his fear, and his faith in his friends. In her mount, Kirara, she could feel the animalistic nature to protect her master. All of them had a set purpose, a thing to stand for.

Kagome only felt jumbled inside. She felt like someone had taken all of her thoughts, had stuffed them into a box, sealed it and had smashed it on the ground a couple of times then dumped the battered thoughts back into her head. It was enough to give anyone a migraine. Her most jumbled up thoughts were about one thing - more specifically, one half-dog demon. She looked down to the object of these thoughts, Inuyasha, who, despite the seriousness of the moment, was trying to outdistance his brother Sesshoumaru as they ran through the forest.

She smiled at his childish acts. Come to think of it, why had Sesshoumaru come to join forces with them? He claimed that he was now interested in the Shikon no Tama, but never before did he ever seem to care about it. It baffled her: yet another thought to add to the muddle in her ever aching mind. She stared out into space, and she notice that the miasma hanging over the area had darkened. A shiver ran down her back: the evil was so thick that she could almost smell it. Shippo shivered and then hugged her tighter. She had wanted to leave the kitsune home safe with Kaede-baba, but he had refused, wanting to help in the fight against Naraku. _Naraku has hurt us all_. Kagome then looked back again at Sango and Miroku. _Some, more than others_. Sango was unconsciously gripping Miroku's arm. To his credit, he wasn't taking advantage of this, for once. _They'd make a cute couple._

Kagome smiled to herself at that one. She so loved to play matchmaker. She glanced at Inuyasha again, and sighed. He occupied most of her thoughts of late, when she was with him, or back in her own time. It was as if, some how, he had crept his way in to her resisting heart and mind. Some of her most tangled thoughts were attributed to him, especially about their future. Kagome blushed at the thought, it implied that his future and her future went together. It was too much to hope for. After all, there would always be Kikyo in the way. And there was the matter of the Shikon no Tama. What would happen when they got it? If they got it?

_NO!_ She was determined to keep a positive state of mind. _We WILL win. We MUST win.  
__  
There is too much at stake to lose._

- - -

He was surprised that he wasn't nervous. Tense, alert, yes. Nervous, no. His entire life led up to this day, and he wasn't nervous. It would be a turning point for good or bad. If he lost, he would die. There was no doubt about that. But. If he won, he would have a fresh start, a new life.

He wasn't really perverted. When his father had died, sucked into his own air void, Miroku had seen his mother's tears. Her grief had broken her, taken her soul and left an empty shell behind. Once he had seen what happened when a loved one left, he vowed never to grow too close to someone, so when his own air void took him, he wouldn't leave behind a hurting person. However, he was still honor bound to produce a child, someone to carry on his family line. So he put on his pervert mask, and tried to keep from growing too attached. Whenever he felt someone becoming too close he would distance himself with his hentai mode. But not forever. No, once Naraku was dead he would be free...free to love.

He was startled as a hand suddenly gripped his arm. He looked back to see Sango. She was staring worriedly at the horizon, her forehead creased. Miroku suddenly had to impulse to smooth these lines away with his hand, to lift her chin and kiss her. She was so beautiful, even as she frowned. She had such pretty eyes, and he loved her long smooth hair with the  
adorable little locks in front of her ears. _Ah Miroku,_ he thought, _you really are a pervert._

He slipped his hand protectively over hers.

- - -

Sesshoumaru ran through the forest, hate seeping through his every pore. _I will never forgive  
you Naraku...NEVER! _His mind flashed back into a painful memory seared into his brain as  
permanently as if it was branded there...

"Rin?" he called, thinking she was playing her hiding game again, that she would come popping  
out of the bushes giggling, and run to her Seeshoumaru-sama. He allowed himself a faint smile,  
since no one could see him. He sniffed the air -wait- there it was, her scent. He followed  
the direction that it came from, deeper into the forest. He was getting closer...

He could smell her more strongly...  
but something was wrong...  
he smelled...  
blood...  
he ran towards the scent...  
it was of blood...  
and fear...  
Rin's blood and fear...  
His sensitive nose picked up something else...  
He recalled a man in a baboon skin...  
Naraku. He smelled Naraku...  
Rin's fear...  
Rin's blood...  
He was drawing closer. There! Rin lay unconscious, bleeding from ling scratches on her face.  
He bent towards her, and picked up yet another smell...  
No, he couldn't have...  
no he wouldn't have...  
not Rin, she was only a child...  
that...  
ANIMAL! _I will destroy you Naraku! _he vowed. Rin stirred. She was waking up. He prepared to comfort her. He was her Seeshoumaru-chan, her savior and friend. Her eyes opened and focused.  
She saw Seeshoumaru and her eyes widened...  
in fear...  
She tensed as if he were going to attack her...  
but Rin always trusted him...  
He looked at her, puzzled.  
"What's wrong, Rin?" he asked...  
she tried to stand up, but tripped. Seeshoumaru offered his hand...  
she screamed and slapped it away.  
Why?...  
Why was Rin crying...  
she tried to run away, tripping over rocks and roots in her haste...  
why...  
why...  
He found himself sinking to his knees. He lowered his head...  
and saw...  
where Rin had been laying...  
white hairs...  
white hairs...  
long gouges on her cheek...  
he looked at his fingers, tipped with claws...  
Naraku's smell...  
white hairs...  
claw marks...  
"No." he said in a hoarse whisper...  
Naraku could take on many forms...  
he took on Inuyasha to kill Kikyo...  
he took on many forms...  
took on the form of Sesshoumaru...  
to hurt Rin...  
"No." he said again...  
Rin hated him...  
Naraku's fault...  
Rin, the one person...  
who had ever loved him...  
the one person...  
he had ever cared about at all...  
Naraku's fault...  
He forgot that he was a youkai, that he shouldn't care about a human...  
he forgot that he was untouchable...  
that he didn't have feelings. He only knew this pain...  
this hate...  
He screamed in an unearthly roar...  
and then broke down. Sesshoumaru, the powerful youkai, the emotionless demon, did something he  
had never done before...  
he wept.

- - -

Inuyasha could feel his brothers hate. It was stronger that anything Inuyasha had seen or felt. He hadn't known someone could hate a person so much. It made him wonder what Naraku had done to Sesshoumaru, to have produced this hate. It wasn't just the Shikon no Tama. No, there was something else, it was as if Naraku had hurt something that Sesshoumaru had cared deeply for.

Inuyasha remembered that little girl that followed his half brother around. Perhaps Sesshoumaru had learned to love a human after all... but that wasn't like Sesshoumaru! And what did that have to do with Naraku? Inuyasha was stumped. He had problems enough of his own, without adding his brothers troubles to the bunch. He looked up to where Kirara was flying, to make sure that Kagome was okay. She was, but she looked so sad. It tore him up inside; he missed her sunny smiles, and he hated her tears... the ones that he was so often  
the cause of. He cared for her, more that he was willing to admit; he realized this now. He cared for her, perhaps, loved her; and he wished that he could tell her, but there was his pride. His stupid, blasted pride, that made everything that came out of his mouth an insult. He wanted to tell her that he didn't care as much for Kikyo as he did for her, that he only felt he must fulfill his old loyalties to Kikyo, to return her to a state of rest, before he could move on. He wanted to tell her that the reason that he always came back to drag her back to  
the feudal age, wasn't so much for the Shikon no Tama, but because he missed her. He felt empty without her near, without having the comforting smell of her around him. He wanted to tell her, to tell her everything, but her couldn't. He just couldn't. He looked back into her sad face. The least he could do was try to make her smile. So, he put on his 'I'm a big  
bad Hanyou' front , and made a big show of trying to race Sesshoumaru, trying to lighten her up. He looked back again, and saw a half hearted smile, one that didn't quite reach her eyes. He tore his eyes from her and focused on the upcoming battle.

- - -

Kagome was the first to see them, the buildings they had seen exact duplicates of throughout their travels. She pointed a shaky finger at them.

"There." her voice was hoarse. Miroku looked to where she was pointing and nodded.

"Inuyasha!" He called down. "The buildings- we're coming to them, they are dead ahead!"  
Inuyasha nodded. They all prepared themselves for the upcoming battle.

Naraku smiled evilly. Things were going well, just as he had hoped and planned for.

- - -

End of chapter one.

MORE author's notes:  
Hiya again! Yes, it's the annoying author again. Yes, I know what Naraku did to poor Rin was  
horrible... Ack! Don't hurt me! The muse made me do it! Anyways, I had to put it in...  
Why? Read on... All will be revealed... Next chapter coming very soon.


	2. Naraku

Hate

An Inuyasha fanfic by Elusion

Chapter Two

Disclaimer: Do you really need another one of these?  
Author's notes: Thanks for the few that have already reviewed!!! I'm glad that my little story  
is turning out well. However, I'd like to remind you that this IS an angst story, and things  
get, well, a little sad and angst-y. Don't worry, it is also listed as a romance story, and  
I will get that in somehow. ;)

- - -

Kagome was the first to see the buildings, the ones that they had seen exact duplicates all over the country.

"Up ahead," She said in a hoarse whisper, "in that clearing." She pointed with a finger.

"Inuyasha!" Miroku called out. "We can see the buildings dead ahead!"

"Hai!" Inuyasha yelled back. His heart was racing, it was nearly time. They had finally reached it, Naraku's forest. The place that they had been trying to reach for so long. There was an  
awed silence, for a few brief seconds, and then Sesshoumaru growled,

"Well are we going or not?"

"Let's go kick some Naraku butt!"Kagome said. Everyone turned to look at her.

"What?" She asked.

"Ahem." said a figure from the court yard. Kagura.

"Ah, pretty man, you came." she said addressing Sesshoumaru. "The others can go ahead, but I want to fight you!"  
The group paused.

"Go on." Sesshoumaru growled at them.

"Oh, and Kagome," he called and as she turned he yelled, "Save me some Naraku butt to kick."

Kagome nodded with a smile, and turned around and ran back to catch the others as they stood at the front entrance.

"Well it looks like it is just you and me, pretty man."

"Let's go, slut."

"Ooh, you offend a poor little girl like me." She said with a smile.

"Whatever -" She swiped her fan sending razor sharp wind blades at him.

"shall -" she dodged a poison claw.

"I -" sent another barrage of blades

"do?"

- - -

Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and mini-sized Kirara entered the main building. In the middle of the floor was a man in a baboon skin cloak.

"Naraku!"

Inuyasha ran forward, when the floor boards underneath them suddenly vaporized. They fell into a large room with four doors, one on each wall. This time there were three Narakus.

"Welcome to my real fortress," said one.

"One of us is the real Naraku," another continued.

"The other two are puppets. You must figure out who for yourselves," the last one finished,  
and then all three went through different doors.

Quickly, Inuyasha took charge. "Sango and Kirara, go get that one, Miroku and Skippo,  
you get that one, and Kagome and I will get the other." he directed.

"Hai."

"And if you finish off a puppet, then come and help the others." He grabbed Kagome's arm. "Let's go!"

He raced down the corridor that the last Naraku had gone through. In his excitement he forgot  
how much slower Kagome was than he, and soon he was far ahead of her. He turned several  
corridors, catching glimpses of white and blue ahead of him. Finally it just disappeared.  
Inuyasha looked around and realized:  
1. He was in a giant maze  
2. He couldn't smell Naraku anywhere  
3. Kagome was no where to be found.

- - -

Kagome looked helplessly around herself. She was lost.

"Inuyasha!" She cried out

"Oi, Kagome," she heard a familiar voice say. She turned around.

"Oh there you are! Thank goodness! I thought I lost you in this maze!"

"Me too, now let's go." Inuyasha said. He grabbed her arm again and dragged her down another hall. Suddenly the hall began to change. They turned a corner and found a door, ornately carved.

"This must be it." she said.

"Come on, let's go in!"

Inuyasha opened the door and led Kagome in. It was dark. The door sounded behind them as it closed, in a small dull click. Inuyasha struck a match and lit a candle.

"Inuyasha where'd you get those?" Kagome asked. Inuyasha smiled, his hair curled writhed into  
black locks and his ears disappeared as well as his claws, his eyes and facial features changed  
until it wasn't Inuyasha sitting in front of her anymore. It was

"Naraku!!" She gasped.

- - -

Something was wrong and Inuyasha knew it. He HAD to find Kagome. He turned a corner and bumped into, not Kagome, but Sango.

"Sango?"

"Inuyasha?" Something was very wrong. Miroku stepped into the clearing.

"Miroku too?"

"Where's Kagome?" Shippo cried.

"I don't know!" Something was very, VERY wrong.

- - -

"Well hello now Kagome." Naraku purred. Kagome was afraid. Inuyasha, where is Inuyasha?  
He's the one that is supposed to fight Naraku! I can't do it! Her thoughts screamed.

"Well now, lets see." he said in the same altogether-all-too-pleased-at-himself voice,  
and began pacing.

"What is the thing that Inuyasha hold dearest.." Then he looked at her, and she saw his eyes  
for the first time...  
they were cold..  
bitter, and at the same time...  
something else.

He turned away again, and resumed pacing.

"That would be you." What was it that she had seen in his eyes?

"Now, what would hurt Inuyasha the most?" Kagome's heart quickened, but somehow it seemed very important to place what she had seen in his stare. Naraku stopped pacing, still wearing a cruel smile. He walked up to Kagome, and grabbed her wrists.

"What would make him, completely, and utterly hate me?" He looked directly into her eyes again, and she realized what she had seem. His eyes were somehow pleading...  
Like a trapped animal begging for freedom.

- - -

"Let's see now... What was your name again? Oh yes, I remeber. Sesshoumaru. What a pretty  
name for such a pretty man," Kagura said. Sesshoumaru growled and launched another attack.  
Kagura laughed wildly.

- - -

"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled, and then slashed into another wall. He vaguely remembered what  
direction that he had come from, and made his way towards there, slashing through walls in his  
attempt.

"Kagome!" He punched another wall, climbed through the giant hole that he had made, and waited for the others to follow and for the dust to clear. When it did, he saw an ornately carved door around the corner.

"This may be it!" He shouted. He ran towards the door, but a Naraku puppet materialized in  
front of him.

"You'll have to go through me first."

Inuyasha started to draw his sword, but then a high pitched scream pierced the air.

"Inuyasha!"

"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled, the scream had come through that door.

"Go, Inuyasha!" Sango said.

"We can take care of this one." Miroku nodded. Inuyasha looked at them in thanks, and opened the door and rushed inside.

- - -

Naraku stepped even closer to Kagome.

"I think that I know what would hurt Inuyasha the most." Naraku said in his disturbing purr.

Suddenly he dropped one of her wrists and tore her shirt. Kagome gasped, and Naraku drew her closer.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed. Her mind was racing.

"And once I take you," Naraku whispered into Kagome's ear, "then I will have satisfied Oni-gumi's lust for Kikyo, since she is dead and you are her  
reincarnation, and I will be able to be rid of this weak human's heart forever." Kagome's heart pounded. And then the door opened.

"Inuyasha" She whispered.

- - -

End of Chapter two

Author's notes:  
Ack! Cliffhanger, I know. Don't worry, the next chapter is coming. I was kind of rushed when  
I wrote this, so it isn't as good as the first chapter, but the third chapter is better. Oh,  
and a quick note, I wrote this before I saw episode 54, so it is a little out of date with the  
storyline. That doesn't pertain as much to this chapter, but in the next couple of chapters  
you'll see.


	3. The Battle

Hate

An Inuyasha fanfic by Elusion

Chapter three

- - -

Sesshoumaru had cornered Kagura. One more attack and this annoying obstacle would be gone.

"Wait." Kagura said in a rasp. "Wait...Rin..."

Sesshoumaru paused.

"Rin? What about Rin?"

"She's okay... Naraku never touched her... simulacrum..." She gasped and grabbed her chest.

"My heart...I've betrayed Naraku... my heart, it is...stopping." She reached up and kissed Sesshoumaru.

"And I did so like you, pretty man... but now I am finally free from Naraku..." Her hand slipped from his cheek and she died.

Sesshoumaru stood, stunned. Rin was okay! His eyes stung with tears of relief.

"I'll come back to bury you." He whispered. But as he turned he saw that it was unnecessary.

Her body crumbled to dust, leaving only a white feather, which he picked up.

- - -

Inuyasha rushed into the room to see Naraku pawing Kagome.

"Get your filthy hands OFF HER." He said coldly. He saw Kagome's tortured face relax in relief.

"Inuyasha." She muttered, and closed her eyes, a tear streaking her face.

"Well Inuyasha, what a surprise." The dog demon did not like the inflection on that word.

"And not a very pleasant one, I'm sure." her said putting his arrogant front up again.

"Now I said to get AWAY FROM HER!" he rushed into slash Naraku. Only Naraku wasn't there. He disappeared in a flash, reappearing on the other side of the room.

Inuyasha skidded to a halt.

"Kagome are you ok?" he asked, stopping his attack to turn towards her. She nodded, eyes still squeezed shut, and leaned into Inuyasha's arms.

"I was so scared..." Inuyasha could see tears running down her face. He hated seeing her cry.

"You... YOU..." Inuyasha roared at Naraku. No word could say what Inuyasha wanted to say.

All of the curse words and insults put together would not be enough, could not contain this rage...  
this hatred...

Naraku laughed, a cruel laugh that echoed from the walls.

"Hate me Inuyasha. Hate me from every fiber in your body. It will avail nothing, I am  
unbeatable."

Inuyasha roared and swung out his Tessaiga. Naraku continued to laugh as he dodged Inuyasha's attacks. Even though Inuyasha had grown to Tesseiga's weight and could  
use it as easily as he had before, Naraku was too fast. Inuyasha realized his clumsy swings wouldn't get him anywhere. He focused on finding the wound of the wind.

"There!" he yelled, swinging toward the place where the youkai clouds met.

"Inuyasha, NO!" Kagome screamed. He pulled back but his attack was already put into motion. Flaming streaks raced toward Naraku...and a little white haired girl, with a mirror, that had just stepped in front of him. She reflected the Tesseiga's flames back upon Inuyasha.

- - -

Sango and Miroku were busy with the puppet when Sesshoumaru came in.

"Sesshoumaru! Help us!" Shippo yelled. A poison claw attack at the puppet and it was gone.

"Where's Naraku?" he growled. Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kirara ran for the door; Sesshoumaru followed them.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried. The dog demon groaned.

"I'm alive Kagome. Ite." he winced.

"Ar..Arigato Kagome...If you hadn't yelled, I wouldn't have pulled back, and I would be dead right now. He winced again, and Kagome was at his side.

"Inuyasha..." She breathed. Her eyes were full of pain.

"Now isn't this just heart touching." Naraku said.

The door burst open. Miroku, Sango, and the others came in.

"Kagome, Inuyasha!" Shippo ran over to them. "Are you okay?"

"H...Hai." Kagome said.

"Your shirt's torn," Inuyasha muttered, shutting his eyes. Kagome blushed and pulled her shirt  
closed.

"Sesshoumaru, Miroku, Sango...could you guys take over for a while?" Inuyasha asked, swallowing his pride. He was hurt badly, barely holding onto consciousness.

"Don't worry little brother." Sesshoumaru said "He's mine!"

Sesshoumaru rushed towards Naraku, the others at his back.

- - -

Sango lay unconscious, Miroku was sitting beside her, clutching his side and breathing heavily. Sesshoumaru was bleeding badly, an only his hate was keeping him going.

He rested a moment, panting heavily. Kuso! he thought. He just won't die! It seems like he's getting even stronger while we get weaker!! As Kagome watched her friends useless attempts, despair rose up in her. Naraku knocked Sesshoumaru aside, this time he didn't get up. He was unconscious, like Sango. Naraku laughed again.

"Well Kagome, looks like it is just you and me now." She panicked as he came closer. Oh gods, he's going to rape me! she thought.

"You're wrong." a voice said. Kagome whirled around to see Inuyasha, leaning heavily on his sword. He flinched and groaned, but managed to stand up.

"As long as I'm still alive you won't touch her." he said, his eyes glaring. Naraku's laugh chilled Kagome.

"Well that won't be for too much longer. Your life ends now. I an unbeatable. Don't you get it? I have limitless power." he said with a smile.

"Shikon...no Tama." Inuyasha said grimly.

"What, that bauble?" Naraku mocked.

"That was simply a lure, a trap. My energy comes from some thing else, raw and hard." Kagome's head whirled. His power didn't come from the Shikon no Tama? Then... where?

"Hate. Pure, simple, and as powerful as can be. The reason why you and your companions cannot kill me is because you all hate me. I live off of your hate."

- - -

End chapter three

Author's notes: Hah! Suprised you didn't I:) Last chapter coming! Oh, and I suck at battle  
scenes, so I took the easy way out. Sorry!


	4. Always

Hate

An Inuyasha fanfic by Elusion

Chapter four

- - -

Inuyasha was bewildered.

_Hate... all this time...living off our hate? He made us hate him so he could get stronger... nothing to do with the Shikon no Tama... _He sank to his knees.  
_How can I kill him? I hate him... I'm only making him stronger... _

_I can't NOT hate him...after all he did...  
_  
Hopelessness took over. Kagome looked at Inuyasha. He sunk to his knees. _Oh gods_, she thought,_ is it over? How can he beat him? How can he not hate Naraku, after what he did to Kikyo..._

Naraku laughed in triumph.

"You were fools to think that you could beat me, but now I have won! Kikyo's reincarnation will be mine, so I can satisfy Oni-gumi's lust, and be rid of my weak heart. Then I will truly be  
invincible!"

"This fight ain't over." Inuyasha stood up.

"I won't let you touch her."

"Inuyasha, don't." Kagome said. "Don't sacrifice your life for me, take the others and go."

"I can't." Inuyasha said quietly.

"I can't because I love you!"

Kagome gasped.

"I have to protect you, even if it is with my life."

Kagome's eyes blurred. Naraku prepared to attack Inuyasha. She wasn't a fool. She knew  
Inuyasha wouldn't survive.

"I'll lose him. I'll lose him. Oh gods what do I do?!" She saw her bow and arrows. She fitted and arrow on the string and paused. She couldn't shoot Naraku out of hate...

Inuyasha and Naraku were locked into a fight to the death. Kagome focused on her love to Inuyasha. She had to save him! Suddenly she remembered the lost pleading look in Naraku's eyes. Pity overtook her.

She let the arrow loose. And blacked out.

- - -

She woke up in a glistening land. It reminded her of the time that she had woke up and Inuyasha  
was talking to the fake mother...this time she could move. She sat up and noticed a young man sitting next to her. She looked closer and...

"Naraku?"

"Don't call me that, please. That man was not me, at least not mentally. Perhaps Oni-gumi is better, or what Oni-gumi used to be. There isn't much time so I will explain quickly. It  
started with Midoriko. I was in love with her. When she sacrificed herself and created the Shikon no Tama, I grew bitter and hateful. I thought that maybe if I had been there to protect her, if I had been able to do something...

If I had been more powerful... then things might have turned out differently. I can't go into too much detail, but my anger eventually consumed me, and I became the one that Kikyo knew as Oni-gumi. The rest you know. Your purity arrow, because you were able to get past hate and shoot it out of love and pity, killed Naraku, but restored me. Now I can be with Midoriko.  
But, Kagome...  
Inuyasha and I were so close...  
Your arrow also shot him. He's dying. There isn't much time"

- - -

Kagome returned to consciousness, to see Sango and Shippo looking down at her worriedly. She sat up and saw Miroku looking over Inuyasha. He looked at her, then dropped his gaze, his eyes sad. She rushed over to Inuyasha. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she saw her arrow sticking out from his chest.

"Inuyasha." she whispered.

"Ka...Kagome?" he asked "Are... you okay?" his voice was a rasp.

"Hai." she said.

"Good." He sighed in relief. His eyes were unfocused and his breathing was shallow.

"I love you Kagome. I's so glad you are okay...I ...I was afraid..." he flinched in pain "that you would die..or worse...and never know that I loved you... ever since we started  
looking for the jewel I loved you, not Kikyo..." Her tears dripped onto his face.

"Don't cry...Kagome."

"Baka." she whispered. "I love you too."

"Don't you dare leave me!!"

His eyes widened in surprise.

"After all I have done?" he asked.

"Yes." She whispered. "With all my heart."

"Kagome." he sighed.

His eyes, his beautiful eyes, closed, never to open again.

- - -

Sesshoumaru shook his head.

"I'm sorry. As a hanyou he was given two souls, a human and a Youkai. His human soul has already left. If I were to raise him with Tesseiga, he would just be a mindless demon." Miroku nodded, and placed a hand on Kagome's shoulder. Sango walked over to her and wordlessly placed something in her hand. It was the Shikon no Tama, still on the chain she had worn, oh so long ago. It was whole, except for a small sliver. She pulled out a small bottle also on a chain, and took out the remaining few shards. Then in a blinding pink light, it became whole again, unlike Kagome's heart, which had shattered into more pieces than the jewel had, and was even harder to put back together.

- - -

Kagome looked around at her surroundings. Had it only been three days? She was leaving, never coming back again. She had said her goodbyes. It was just too painful here, in the feudal era, with memories of Inuyasha. She wouldn't stay and watch Sango and Miroku fall in love when her own love was gone. She climbed into the Bone-eating well for the last time.

"Kagome!" Souta cried. "You were gone for a long time! Did Inuyasha beat that bad guy? Naraku?"

Kagome ran weeping from the room. Souta sat shocked,

"Mommy, what did I say?"

"Honey," She said, tears falling down her own face. "It would be best not to mention Inuyasha's name anymore. He... he died the other day."

- - -

A week went by. Kagome attempted to readjust to normal life, but she had left her heart buried with a certain dog-boy in the feudal era. She became listful, often staring out the  
window during class or sometimes even crying for no reason. Her friends could not figure out what was wrong with her. She wouldn't answer their questions. Today was Sunday, and she had nothing to occupy her mind to keep it from thinking about the past two weeks.

A knock came from the door. Kagome numbly got up to answer it. She opened the door to reveal a young man with long black hair tied into a pony tail.

"Kagome?" he asked.

"Do I know you?" She looked at his face. His eyes were yellow.

"I would hope so," he said, and he hugged her.

"Inu..Inuyasha?" she stuttered unbelievingly.

"Yep."

"But...how...you...died?"

"Sure did."

He laughed at the puzzled expression on her face.

"I had to pull a few strings, but I got to be reincarnated during your age." He explained. "I'll have to say, this era sure had it's advantages. The main one, of course, being you."  
His eyes softened.

"Gods I've missed you Kagome." He whispered. "I've waited five hundred years to do this." he said, sweeping her into a long kiss. She melted into his arms, and kissed him back.

"Its only been a week and a half." she whispered beneath his kisses. "But I feel like I've waited five hundred years as well."

"Well," he said nibbling her ear. "Are you going to invite me in or leave me standing at your doorstep?"

Kagome giggled.

"I just don't want to leave your arms." She said, leading him inside.

"Well you better, because the others only promised us fifteen minutes, before they come."

"Others?" she asked, pushing herself away to look at him in the face.

"Sango, Miroku, Sesshoumaru, Rin, not to mention, Kaede-baba, and Myouga-jiji."

"What about Shippo?" Kagome asked.

"He'll come later." he said touching Kagome's stomach. Realization lit up her face.

"You mean..."

"Yep, he is going to be our first child." he chuckled.

"He made me promise to hurry up and marry you, so that he could come." He kissed her hair.

"Is that a proposal?" she asked with a smile.

"If you'll take a baka dog boy like me." he whispered, drinking in her sweet smell.

She laughed again. "of course."

She stared into his eyes. "I just can't believe it... And all the time..."

Inuyasha sighed.

"They wouldn't let me come before now, it would have caused an interference."

"They?"

"The powers that be," he grinned. "Doesn't matter anyways, as long as I have you. So when we gonna go get married?"

"Let's at least wait until I get out of high school, alright?"

"Shippo won't be happy, but I've waited 500 years. What's a few more?"

Kagome sighed and relaxed into his arms. She felt whole again, something that she hadn't felt

since before Inuyasha... died. She could say it now. He was there, and that was all that mattered. Suddenly Kagome realized what she should use the Shikon no Tama for. She vowed to create a spell that would insure no matter what happened to them, no matter if they died or were reborn, they would always find each other.

Always.


End file.
